The rest of the week went by quickly after the study session at Momo's house, and now it was time for our Final Exams.
'This must be a circle of hell. Dante was wrong, there are more.' I thought wearily after our first day of testing had finished. Since U.A is the top hero school in Japan and the world, they naturally have higher expectations for their students.
That meant that Hero Course students had to be both academic monsters and be able to stop villains. So our load of classwork was as bad, if not worse than that of the Ged Ed classes, since we also had a whole slew of hero classes on top of everything else.
I'd barely gotten through today's subjects, Japanese History had been particularly nasty since a lot had changed since I'd been 'alive'. Yes, I knew a bit of history around the time after WW2, but my knowledge died in 2030, just like me.
So, despite being able to piece together history from the pre-quirk era, the time after that was a mess that even Historians struggled with at times, what with the quirk wars and China going a bit crazy in the ensuing chaos.
Japanese, the language, had been slightly more forgiving. Since I'd been speaking it for a few months now every day, I've been getting better and better. That did only extend to speaking, however, as the written portions were a bit confusing. Still better than history, though.
Thankfully, Nezu must have known after 40 years of teaching humans that we can't sit in classrooms being tortured for a whole week without falling apart. I hope, maybe some teacher made him realize it at some point.
I am glad we get the rest of the day off; however, I'm going to spend it studying for the rest of the week. Since we'd taken two three-hour tests this morning, we got to go home after lunch.
I wish Aizawa had told us which days we were taking certain tests, but the only thing he told us was when we'd be doing our practical exam, Friday. That gave me a small hope to latch onto, that maybe I wouldn't be placed against a teacher who would absolutely wreck me.
Since I knew the canon, I was 80% sure that the teachers would be pitted against us for our practical on Friday, but I just didn't remember who went against whom. I only hoped I wasn't placed against Midnight or Aizawa, as I'm sure the two of them already have several ways to deal with me.
After waving goodbye to Sasha and Momo, I followed after Shoto. Fuyumi was still at work since it was a bit after lunch, so we made a quick snack before studying some more for the rest of the week. Maybe it would be better after that?
It didn't get any better. . . At all :(
I'm pretty sure as a class we didn't know up from down by the time Friday rolled around. Even Momo, Izuku, and Ida, three academic animals, looked floored by the time Kaminari handed in his final exam early Friday morning.
Thankfully, they'd gone a bit easier on us today, only giving us an essay of a couple of thousand words, by hand. Once it was finally over with, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief to finally be done with this as Aizawa gave our papers to the bot, which floated to whatever cave Nezu would grade these.
"Take ten minutes to stretch, then head out to Field Alpha." He said with a smirk that did not bode well. I didn't waste time, shooting up from my seat to stretch my tired limbs. Sasha did the same, going out of her way to poke and prod me with her tail.
I swatted it aside and went to change into my gym uniform. Shoto and Bakugo were right behind me as we hurried towards Field Alpha, where Cementoss was finishing up the massive fake city.
"How much does U.A spend on land acquisition?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud as Cementoss grinned. "More than you think." He, of course, didn't elaborate, leaving me sitting there wondering just how Nezu makes what must be hundreds of millions to be able to afford all of this.
Soon, the rest of Class 1-A and all the teachers arrived as everyone wondered what the test would be. "I think it's quite obvious now. What do you think, Aizawa?" Nezu said as he popped out of Aizawa's scarf.
"I'm surprised they didn't figure it out as soon as they saw Snipe." He muttered before slapping his hand over Present Mic's mouth. "Don't start. It's too early for that." I grinned, seeing their antics as Nezu explained the exam.
"Congratulations on getting past all of your exams thus far! Remember, you can still fail here, and Aizawa had plenty of work ready for you. Now for the rules of this exam.
You will all be split into pairs, some random others not, and you will be facing off against your teachers. You will each be given a pair of handcuffs that you must put on your opponent to pass. Of course, they will be leaving a way out for you if you are unable to capture them and must flee; both will give you a passing grade.
Once you are in position, you will have 30 minutes to either fight or flee. If you can do neither within the time limit, then you fail, or if the villain captures you, you will also fail that way.
I do have a warning, however. Your teachers will not be holding back at all. I have given them express permission to exploit anything they may have noticed during your training thus far. So if you're going to fight, be on guard for their tricks.
I am levelling the playing field, however. Each teacher will be wearing weights around their wrists and ankles. Some may have more, others may have less. You have five minutes to prepare as we teachers get into position."
With that, Nezu and the rest of the teachers scattered. A bot then hovered over and showed us the list of who'd be going against whom, and who their teammate would be. Everyone froze. At the very top read: 'Midoriya + Bakugo vs All Might.'
Leaving those two to figure things out, I looked for my name and found I'd been paired with Sasha, against Midnight. "We're hosed," I said simply as she patted me on the back. "We'll be fine, don't you worry, tiger."
Seeing the map and checking the area we're stuck in, we make our way over while thinking of a plan, and anything she might use against us. "Well, I'm basically perfect, so she'll probably target you. I'll bet she puts those honkers to work, since I know you can't keep your eyes off mine."
"Really? Now?" I groaned as she grinned. "Yep! I don't doubt that she'll try to use her body to tease you as I do. So you'd better resist." She glowered as I nodded quickly. "I'll be sure to keep her gas away with my flames. If not, then I can fly above and blow it away with my wings."
"That could work, but she's carrying that whip. I'd rather not find out how well she can use that thing." Sasha pointed out. "True, I don't know about her, but I'm not into that kind of stuff." I could see Sasha struggling to keep her mouth shut as I rolled my eyes.
"We do need to decide if we're fighting or not, though. Jokes aside, Midnight is a Pro-hero; she may use her quirk a lot, but she's no slouch either. You also can't ignore the fact that she may use you against me."
"What?" Sasha froze and looked at me. "Nezu said that the teachers are going to be acting like villains. Villains always go for your loved ones; it makes heroes angry and predictable. So be careful."
"So you admit you love me?" Of course, that's what she took away from that. "Yes, I do. So be careful, so we can pass this and not be stuck with Aizawa in a classroom." She seemed to calm down hearing that as we reached our area. Midnight was waiting for us.
"My my, making a lady wait for so long. You still have lots to learn." She purred as I wondered which one of us she was talking to. I didn't get time to ponder as a horn blared and her whip lashed out.
I took to the air immediately. Flames singed the end of her whip before she could use it against us as she retracted it. Since Midnight was close to baseline human, Desperation didn't give me much of a boost compared to the Nomu.
Sasha and I split up and hid among the rubble as Midnight stalked us. I quickly looked around and spotted the exit. I didn't stare too long, though. Midnight didn't give us any rest as we decided to fight.
"Oh, how forward!" She groaned as a wave of fire burst from my wings. She jumped over them as Sasha emerged from her hiding spot. She'd hid until the last moment, claws outstretched to tear open Midnight's throat, only for her to have her wrists grabbed.
"Hmm, need a little sharpening. Maybe a good backscratcher, but that's why you have him, right?" Midnight grinned at Sasha's face as I hurled a fireball. She was forced to drop Sasha to dodge as I scooped her up and flew a distance away.
"We need a plan, something that she won't see coming," I said as she recovered from Midnight's taunt. "Tick tock, I have all the time in the world. Do you?" Midnight's voice floated over as I glanced at her.
"I have an idea for my fire. I need you to distract her so that I can get close enough." I said as I started creating and shaping a massive amount of flames. Sasha nodded as she disappeared into the rubble.
A few moments later, I heard the snap of Midnight's whip as she fended off Sasha's attack. I put more distance between us as I tuned out Sasha's yelling and Midnight's innuendos. For once, I was having difficulty shaping the fire. Yes, it wasn't always easy, but never this hard.
Finally, I finished the first part of my plan as the flaming boots snapped into place over my feet. Then the greaves as I heard the fighting get closer. Now the Cuisses, and the largest piece so far, the breastplate.
I nearly blacked out from compressing and shaping so much fire, but I forced myself awake. I then activated Six Eyes to not mess up the rest of the suit. Pauldrons, Rerebraces, and Vambraces.
Now the gauntlets, and finally, the helmet.
"Micah, help!" I heard Sasha shriek, and I bolted towards her voice. I rounded a large rock and nearly collided with the wall of Midnight's mist. I swore, then took a gamble as I entered the mist.
I didn't have to worry much about the mist as it burned upon touching my armor. A little more looking and I found Sasha stumbling about in the mist. "Sasha! Are you ok?" I shouted and ran over to her. "I am now." She panted as I kept her from falling over.
"Where's Midnight? We have to hurry up and finish this!" I said, looking around, but the mist had crept closer despite the fire. "Don't worry about her." Sasha said, and I whipped my head around, "What?!" Then I saw how flushed her face was, and swore.
'Of course it affects women too. Just because it doesn't knock them out like it does men doesn't mean they aren't affected!' I realized as Sasha ran her hands along my armor. "Come on, tiger, let me see what's hiding under all this armor~"
I grabbed Sasha's hands to keep her from removing my helmet; it was the only thing between us failing and passing at this point. She pouted when I grabbed her hands, only to bite her lip the next moment. "Finally taking charge, took you long enough~."
She pressed herself against me, and I realized Midnight was doing this on purpose. Sasha had likely failed already. Groaning within my helmet, I held Sasha's hands with one of mine before tying her up and leaving her somewhere safe.
"Please, Micah, come back." She said softly as I shook my head and ignored her, barely. I then took off deeper into the mist as it got thicker and thicker. With each step I took, it felt like the mist was clinging to me rather than burning. Each step heavier than the last.
I didn't have to look too hard for Midnight; however, she'd found me. "Ah, young love! It makes me feel all tingly." She purred as I charged. She lashed out with her whip as normal, but I could tell there was less force behind it compared to the first time.
'She must be controlling the remaining mist. She's got to be tired by now from making so much of it, but is she controlling it?' My mind raced as I tanked several hits. She then switched tactics, aiming for my limbs to try and trip me, or pry a section of armor loose.
She did manage to nearly take out one of my legs, but a short burst of flames kept me up as she tried going for my wrists. As the whip wrapped around my wrist, I reached forward and grabbed the whip with my free hand.
With a shout, I pulled hard as Midnight stumbled before she was able to let go. Taking advantage of that opening, I lunged forward and tackled her to the ground. She didn't stay down as she locked her legs around my waist and flipped us before we hit the ground.
She then rained blows down on my helmet with a nightstick she'd pulled from her cleavage. The blows rang, and I could feel my grip on her loosening, but before it did, I released one final burst of flames.
She shouted in surprise as most of her costume turned to ash, and a five-meter hole was burned around us; the mist was gone for the moment. Releasing the fire I'd been holding back nearly knocked me out once more as the armor I'd been holding together broke apart, before latching onto Midnight.
She tried to tear it off, but singed her hands before she could stop it, as she was wrapped up mummy-style by the flames. I then grabbed the handcuffs and put them on her before dragging her out of the mist, holding my breath as I burned a path back to Sasha.
I found her right where I'd left her, finally passed out from the dosage of mist she'd been given. I secured Midnight on my back using the flames, as I carried Sasha all the way to the exit. We'd passed after all.